Fencing Lesson
by DyanaRoseJill
Summary: Kunzite is the guardian and teacher of the thirteen year old prince of Terra. It's not an easy task
1. Chapter 1

Kunzite paced the salle. The prince was late to practice for the third time this week, and it was only Tuesday. The young prince was finally old enough to begin proper training. His father and Kunzite had agreed that it was time for Endymion to learn how to defend himself properly.  
Unfortunately, Endymion had also started to notice girls. He wasn't old enough to do more than awkwardly flirt, but that occupied all of his time and interest now.

A sound in the hall made Kunzite looked up. He recognized the step of the prince and he went over to the door to meet him.

Endymion came strolling into the salle, arm in arm with his current interest, the youngest daughter of some minor earl in the court. Kunzite leaned back against the doorframe, arms crossed, but his stern glare was lost on the prince.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Kunzite-sensei," Endymion said, "But I was with Crystal and I just lost track of time."

"I see that," Kunzite responded.

"Oh, this is Crystal," Endymion introduced her to Kunzite. The girl gave a little curtsey and Kunzite nodded in a suggestion of a bow.

"Prince Endymion has told me that you're teaching him to fight," Crystal said shyly, "I was wondering if I could watch."

"Watch?" Kunzite repeated.

"Yes," Endymion said, "Could she watch me practice?"

"I promise that I will be very quiet," she added.

"I do not think this is a good idea," Kunzite said.

"I want her to stay and watch," Endymion said, "Come on Crystal, you can sit over here, you'll be out of the way." He led the girl around the outside of the ring and sat her down on a bench.

Kunzite held back a sigh as he waited for the prince to stop chatting with the girl and come over to practice. Endymion made a great show of selecting a practice sword and then went over to where Kunzite was waiting.

"Are we finally ready?" Kunzite asked.

Endymion nodded, "I am."

"Good," Kunzite said, "Then begin."

Kunzite led the prince through a complicated dance of thrusts and blocks to warm up. The clicks of the practice swords fell into an even rhythm as Endymion followed each of Kunzite's commands. After each turn, Endymion would glance over at the girl, but his form never lapsed, so Kunzite let it go.

"Kunzite-sensei?" the prince spoke up, "I think that I'm warmed up enough. Can we try a real practice now?"

Kunzite blinked.

"Where I try to disarm you," Endymion continued.

"I don't think-"

"Please, Kunzite-sensei? That's much more interesting then the practice dances."

"Alright," he said, "But we will do the pattern we have been working on."

Endymion frowned a bit. "I want to try a real battle. Like you do with the others."

"You aren't that advanced," Kunzite started.

"Of course I am."

The _Shitennou_'s eyes narrowed a bit as he saw the way Endymion kept winking at Crystal. He sighed inwardly. He knew having the girl watch was a bad idea. The prince was trying to impress her… at the cost of a lesson, and Kunzite's time.

"Very well," Kunzite agreed finally.

"I can do it," Endymion said confidently.

"Take your position then."

The prince grinned and held his sword at the ready.

As Kunzite predicted, even though Endymion said he didn't want to follow a pattern dance, the young prince did anyway. Kunzite followed, thrusting and blocking according to the pattern. He thought Endymion followed well. Later, of course, he would teach the boy to improvise, but now, he just wanted him to learn the moves.

Then Endymion rushed at Kunzite, swinging his sword wildly. Kunzite ducked out of the way just in time.

Crystal cheered. "Well done!"

Endymion whirled to face her and gave a sweeping bow.

It took all of Kunzite's self control not to roll his eyes. But he decided there was no harm in letting the prince tire himself out by running around. It was a waste of energy, but it looked good to the girl watching. The _Shitennou _already had dismissed this lesson as a lost cause. Maybe the aching muscles tomorrow would be enough of a lesson to the prince.

"Kunzite-sensei," Endymion protested after Kunzite dodged him for the third time, "You're not trying."

"Sure he is," Crystal said, "You're just faster than he is."

"No," Kunzite said, "You are racing around recklessly and swinging your sword around. You are not fencing."

"Come on Kunzite-sensei," Endymion held up his sword, "I know how to defend."

Kunzite sighed.

"I want to show Lady Crystal what I can do," Endymion murmured softly.

"You already were," Kunzite said, "In the pattern dance."

"No, not that," Endymion said, "I told her that I'm a good warrior. Now come on!"

Kunzite's patience snapped. "Very well my prince."

With that, Kunzite slashed out at Endymion's legs. The prince yelped and jumped back. Kunzite didn't give him a chance to recover, striking him hard across the arm with the flat of his sword. The prince tried to counter, but Kunzite slipped past him, hitting Endymion's arm again. The prince yelped and clung to his sword as his arm went numb.  
Another quick twist from Kunzite's sword and Endymion's sword went flying. Kunzite quickly kicked it out of the way when Endymion scrambled for it. He stuck out his foot and tripped him, knocking the prince to the ground. He held the end of his sword to the prince's throat.

Kunzite lowered his sword without a word.

"That… was not fair."

"I did what you commanded of me," Kunzite said, "You wanted a real battle." He held out his hand to help Endymion up.

The prince pushed his hand away and got up, brushing himself off.

"Pick up your sword, and let's try again."

"No. I am done."

Kunzite sighed. "Very well. Pick up your sword and put it away then."

"No," the prince said.

"Prince Endymion!"

The prince stormed over to the door and left the salle, slamming it shut and setting the wall shaking.

Crystal got to her feet quickly. "Thank you… for letting me watch… Lord Kunzite…" She gave a little curtsey and quickly vacated the room.

Kunzite growled and stalked over, picking up the wooden practice sword that Endymion had dropped. He glared at the door and then threw the weapon at a pile of sandbags. He stood there for a moment, watching the sand spill out.


	2. Chapter 2

Endymion wasn't just late to practice the next day - he didn't show up at all. Nor did he the next day. After he skipped lessons for the third time, Kunzite went looking for him. After asking around for awhile and bribing one of the maids, Kunzite went out and found the prince in the stables.

The young man was in the stall with his favorite horse, an even-tempered gelding. Kunzite watched him groom the animal for a few moments before stepping into view. The horse whickered, but then went back to eating when he recognized Kunzite's scent.

"Endymion," Kunzite spoke up.

The prince looked up, then down. "What do you want?"

"I haven't seen you for three days."

"Go away."

Kunzite leaned over the door.

"I could order you to go away," Endymion muttered.

"You could."

The prince went around to the other side of the horse. Kunzite just waited patiently.

"You embarrassed me."

"You embarrassed yourself," Kunzite said, "You have a lot left to learn. If you will come back to lessons, you'll learn how to not embarrass yourself."

Endymion made sure there was enough water for his horse before leaving the stall.

"You made me think that I was good," he accused Kunzite.

"You are good, up to a point. Just inexperienced. Come back to lessons."

"No," Endymion snapped, "Fencing is dumb." With that, the prince stalked off down the aisle.

The next time that Kunzite found Endymion, the _Shitennou_ was better prepared. He greeted Endymion in the garden where the prince was tossing stones into an ornamental pond.

"What do you want?" Endymion grumbled.

"Did you want to go for a ride?" Kunzite asked, "One of the cooks packed a lunch."

The prince regarded the silver haired man suspiciously.

Kunzite spread his hands out, palm up. "No tricks. Just a ride and a picnic."

Endymion dropped his last stone back on the path and turned to Kunzite with a faint smile. "Alright."

Soon after, Kunzite and Endymion were riding off, away from the palace grounds.

Kunzite didn't say anything important while they rode - something Endymion was grateful for. The only thing that the silver haired man said was strictly scenery related as he pointed out things. The prince relaxed as Kunzite pointed out various different landmarks and animals along the way.

"Where are we going?" Endymion asked finally.

"Oh I have a picnic spot in mind," Kunzite said, "Don't worry."

Endymion was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to stop to eat when Kunzite indicated a large boulder.

"We'll stop over there," the _Shitennou_ said, "There's a nice place just beyond there."

"Good," the prince said, "I'm hungry."

Kunzite chuckled and clucked to his horse, urging the animal into a slightly faster gait. Endymion smiled when he saw the grassy expanse on the other side. The rock provided just enough shade, but without having to worry about leaves and bugs from trees.

"I will take care of the horses, and you set up our lunch, alright?" Kunzite said.

Endymion nodded, dismounting and taking the bags of food from Kunzite. While he unpacked (and gave his approval of) their lunch, Kunzite ground tied the horses, giving them plenty of room to graze.

The two settled in to eat in silence.

"Crystal laughed at me," the prince burst out suddenly, "And she didn't want to meet me in the garden anymore."

Ah that explained a lot. Kunzite merely nodded.

"I wanted to impress her..." Endymion said softly, "Being prince wasn't enough to really impress her, so I thought... if I could show her how good I was at fencing..."

"You were doing well," Kunzite said.

"Until you started making it too hard."

"I did as you asked - you wanted a proper duel."

"I thought you'd help me impress her," Endymion said, tearing his bread into tiny bits and tossing them over to the horses.

Kunzite shook his head. "It is my job to teach you and protect you, not help you impress girls."

The prince sighed.

"Endy," Kunzite shook his head, "I know this is hard to understand. At your age, it seems very important, but..."

"Why are girls so dumb?" Endymion growled, "They're pretty, and soft, and fun... but they're so dumb about what they want! They ask you to do things, but even if you try, you still can't win."

"That's because they don't know what they want either," Kunzite said gently, "It seems bad now, but things will get better when you get older."

"What am I supposed to do now then?"

Kunzite refrained from cringing at the whine in Endymion's voice. "You finish your lunch," he said with a smile.

Now that all four were fed, Kunzite, Endymion and their horses were on their way again.

"Do we have to head back?" the prince asked.

"Eventually," Kunzite said with a wink, "As long as it is before dark."

Endymion grinned.

"So which way would you like to go?" he asked, "That path leads off south to the river; that one leads to the village, and that one goes through the field."

"Well..." Endymion looked around, "What about north?"

"There's no path north from here."

"So let's make one!" the prince grinned, "It'll be an adventure."

"No my prince," Kunzite said, "North leads into the forest."

"So? Our horses are trained to navigate rough terrain," Endymion said, "Father's trainer is good."

"No. Pick a different way."

Endymion turned his horse northwards. Kunzite sighed and urged his horse forward, cutting in front of the prince and blocking his path.

"Pick a different way."

"Get out of my way Kunzite!" he tried to go around him.

"No."

"You're always spoiling my fun!" he shouted, "Why can't you just listen to me? What's so wrong about wanting to go exploring, or impressing a girl?"

"Endymion-sama..."

"Silence!" he ordered imperially, and turned his horse, startling the horse into a canter. Prince and horse hurried over to the edge of the forest and vanished inside it.

Kunzite cursed and followed him.


	3. Chapter 3

Endymion allowed his horse to slow when they entered the woods.

"I don't know why he treats me like a child," he muttered to his horse, "I can do things on my own - I don't need watching all the time." The prince sighed, "Why doesn't any one understand that?"

His horse was not a good conversation partner as he focused on trying to make his way through the forest. Despite what the prince thought, his gelding was not happy at having to make his own trail. The animal snorted his dislike.

Endymion looked around at the trees and smiled, his bad mood fading away. It looked like no one had ever set foot in this part of the forest before. He really was an explorer now, venturing off to parts unknown. When he got older, he wanted to do this all the time, but he figured he had to start somewhere.

"Now this is more like it," he said to his horse, "I'll do something great today yet."

The horse stopped to eat something off the ground, but Endymion tugged his reins to keep him moving.

They hadn't gone much father when suddenly the horse stopped dead still, his ears swiveling in all directions as he sniffed the air.

"You can stop to eat later," Endymion said with a sigh.

Suddenly there was a whizzing sound as an arrow rushed past him and buried itself in a tree. His horse reared and it was all that Endymion could do to keep his seat.

"Woah boy! Easy! Easy..."

The animal lowered back to all fours, but pranced nervously.

The sound of laughter made him look up.

"You seem to be having trouble with your horse, boy," a man stepped out of the trees. He was dressed in dark browns and greens and he looked dirty.

"I'm fine," Endymion said quickly.

More men appeared from behind the trees.

"You seem lost," the speaker approached him.

"I'm not lost," Endymion said, watching them uneasily.

They rushed at him. One man took the bridle of the horse while two others pulled the prince off his horse.

"Hey!" he struggled.

"Let's see what we have in here," one of the men took the saddle bags off to go through them.

"Put those back!" Endymion squirmed.

"Ooh, this is a pretty trinket," he looked a pocket knife over.

"That's mine!"

Kunzite had been trailing Endymion. The boy left a track through the forest that a blind man could follow. He urged his horse along. The prince had rushed off before Kunzite had had a chance to tell him there were gangs of bandits in the forest.

He sighed to himself when he saw the prince's horse... and the six men.

"Kunzite!" Endymion shouted.

Kunzite sighed again. So much for the element of surprise. He dismounted from his horse, making sure his sword was visible. "Let him go."

The lead bandit laughed, "So the young lord has a friend. Let's see if he has any valuables."

Endymion bristled. "I am not a 'young lord'!"

The bandits laughed.

"Unhand me!" Endymion ordered, "Do you know who I am?"

Kunzite was shaking his head, but Endymion ignored him. "I am Prince Endymion - Crown Prince of Terra."

Kunzite groaned.

"Prince Endymion?" the leader's eyes grew wide.

"That's right," Endymion said imperially, "Now let go of me!"

"Just imagine the ransom we can get from him!"

"You won't be getting any ransom," Kunzite drew his sword, "One more warning. Let him go."

The bandits drew their own weapons.

"There are six of us and one of you," the leader said, "If you go now, we'll let you walk out of this forest alive."

"I am not leaving without Endymion," Kunzite said.

"Your choice," the bandit leader said, and then nodded to the others, "Kill him."

"No!" Endymion cried out, but the bandit holding him pressed the knife closer to Endymion's throat. The prince whimpered and closed his eyes.

Kunzite narrowed his focus. He leapt out of the way as the two rushed at him, kicking one into the other. He was glad that Endymion was trapped on the other side of the clearing - he didn't need to worry about the prince getting in the way. Then he had no time to think about anything else.

Only the sound of the swords and the grunts of the bandits.

Only the scent of sweat and blood.

Endymion tried to watch for a few minutes, but he couldn't see what was happening. Kunzite had his sword in one hand and a knife in the other, but he couldn't tell how well the _Shitennou_ was doing. He had to close his eyes again.

The knife against his throat vanished, and he heard running feet... running away from him. He cautiously opened his eyes.

Kunzite straightened and turned to the prince. Endymion looked around. It seemed the fight was over. The _Shitennou_ hurried over to him. "Endy. Are you alright?"

He was shaking, "Kunzite... I... I..."

"Are you hurt?" he told hold of the prince's shoulders.

Endymion shook his head.

"Good. Let's go home." He led Endymion over to the horse and boosted him up into the saddle.

Endymion just sat there numbly, letting Kunzite lead the horse. He glanced down and blinked as he saw three of the robbers... he recognized the leader. They were lying on the ground, face down.

"Kunzite?..."

"Yes?"

"Are they?..."

"Yes."

"Did you?..."

"Yes."

Kunzite mounted his own horse and rode back along the path, leading Endymion's horse. The prince couldn't take his eyes off the bandits.

"Don't look," Kunzite said, a bit distracted by trying to control two restive horses, "Watch where we are going, not where we've been."


	4. Chapter 4

Endymion sat in the garden, watching the water bubble up in the fountain. It was calm. Serene almost. That's the way the garden was designed.

But the prince felt anything but serene.

Once he and Kunzite had returned to the palace, they had been swarmed on. Of course Kunzite had to report what had happened. Endymion was pulled off his horse into the arms of waiting servants.

Their horses were taken a way to be fed and groomed and generally calmed down. Endymion was ushered inside and into a warm bath. Guards were sent out to deal with the mess that Kunzite had left behind, and to hunt for the remaining bandits.

When he asked about Kunzite, all the prince was told was that the _Shitennou_ was also being taken care of. But he hadn't seen Kunzite since they had returned home yesterday. When they had come home, Kunzite had seemed fine, but Endymion had to admit that he wasn't exactly paying attention.

Endymion shuddered. He had seen a real battle now... a real fight where the opponents really were trying to kill each other. There was no concern for proper rules, no points awarded for getting a touch. And he had felt like he was going to be sick. When he thought about what Kunzite had done...

He shuddered again. At least he hadn't actually seen it.

Finally he got up. He was going to find Kunzite.

He had to ask around for awhile before he finally found the _Shitennou_ sitting in the shade, meditating. His arm was wrapped in white strips of clean cloth... Endymion shivered. Kunzite was hurt after all

"Kunzite-sensei?" he asked softly.

He opened his eyes.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," Kunzite said, indicating that Endymion should come take a seat.

The prince sat down slowly and gazed at the grass for a long time.

Kunzite said nothing.

"I'm sorry!" he burst out, "I didn't listen to you, and got you in trouble and now you're hurt."

"Endy," Kunzite said gently.

"You told me not to go through the forest, but I just had to go exploring," Endymion continued, "And now look what happened..." The prince looked back down again, "I'm no warrior..."

"Endy..."

"And now you're hurt, and you could have been killed!"

"Your highness!" Kunzite said firmly, "Look at me."

Responding to the authority in Kunzite's voice, the prince looked up and met Kunzite's light blue eyes.

"First, I accept your apology," he said, "Secondly, I am not badly hurt."

"But... your arm..."

"It was just a surface cut," he said, "I will be fine. Trust me."

Endymion nodded automatically.

"It is my task to look after you," Kunzite said, "To protect you and teach you."

He looked down, "I haven't been making that easy for you..."

"You could put it that way," Kunzite said.

"They wanted to kill you... and maybe even me," the prince said.

"Probably not you," Kunzite said, "They could get a good ransom for you. You're too valuable to kill."

"And then father would have done anything to get me home safe..." Endymion said softly.

"Most likely."

"I didn't know that you could kill people..."

"Sometimes, my prince, there is no choice," Kunzite said, "People like that make their livings preying on others."

"Do you really think they could have killed you?"

"They wanted to," Kunzite said, "I'm sure they have killed other unsuspecting travelers."

"But, do you really think they could have killed you?" Endymion repeated.

Kunzite looked sideways at the prince and winked.

"I want to go back to lessons," Endymion said, "I have a lot left to learn..."

Kunzite smiled, "I think we can arrange that."

"I'll stay with the pattern dance," Endymion said with a nod.

"That's more of your level," he said.

The prince nodded.

"And," he gave the prince another smile, "That is the sort of fencing that does impress the ladies."

"Girls are dumb," he responded promptly.

Kunzite laughed heartily at that.


End file.
